Roger Ourset was the driving force behind the launch of the Clemenceau Business School (ESA), which he led from its inauguration in 1996 until 2008. After his two passions, business management and teaching, he discovered a real interest in flags and their symbolism and joined the French Federation of Vexillology.
Passing through Beirut, he confided to L’Orient-Le Jour that he always liked “to see a flag waving”. “So, he says, I wanted to know more about his story about him. Each banner expresses an ideology and a will that must be known to know what the States think of their mission. This is how I immersed myself in the world of vexillology. Mr. Ourset indicates that it was American Witness Smith, the instigator of the creation of the International Federation of Vexillogical Associations (FIAV) and the North American Vexillological Association (NAVA), who coined the word vexillology, combining the Latin word vexillum which designates standard of the Roman armies and the Greek ending means the study of. A Harvard graduate, Witness is the author of Flags Through the Centuries and Around the World, considered the monument of vexillology.
The flag of Saudi Arabia, which carries the Muslim profession or chahada, is never lowered. photo by bigstock
No flag at half mast for Arabia … and a hole for Romania
At first glance, you might think that a flag is just a piece of fabric with patterns and colors. However, it contains symbols that reflect the history, political choices and reasons for the pride of the citizens of the country of which it is the emblem. Roger Ourset decodes the flag counting language. First of all, we will preserve the striking use of that of Saudi Arabia, which can never be put at half mast. And for good reason, its green background, the color of Islam, carries the Muslim profession of faith (the chahada) which proclaims: “There is no god but Allah and I certify that Muhammad is his messenger. The words of the Qur’an do not bow with those who prostrate themselves to the ground, they must soar higher towards the blue dome of the sky.
The attitude towards the national flag varies from country to country. Finland, for example, supports the use of its flag only by official institutions. But at sunset it starts at half mast. How come ? “No explanation is given. That’s how they don’t want their flag flying at night, ”notes Roger Ourset. In Denmark, however, “citizens have free use of their flag. It can float anywhere, outdoors or indoors. Legend has it that this large blood-red linen crossed out with a white cross simply fell from the sky during a battle fought in Estonia in 1219. This flag was made official in 1625. “It is the oldest national flag in the world. It bears the name of Dannebrog. Furthermore, the choice of motifs is not accidental. The stone-carved eagle that appears on the flag of Zimbabwe is the country’s national emblem. It decorated the pillars that surmount the walls of the ancient Kingdom of Zimbabwe, a set of ruins covering about seven kilometers built between the 12th and 15th centuries. The bird appears on flags and coats of arms, banknotes and coins of the country.
The Lebanese flag whose design was adopted in 1943.
flags of lebanon
Regarding the design of the current flag of Lebanon, adopted in 1943, Mr. Ourset states that “originally there were two schools: elected Arab nationalists who proposed the colors green, white, red and black, on the model of the Arab flags; and the Lebanese nationalists who asked for a distinctive flag ”. According to the vexillologist, the deputy Henri Pharaon, consul of the Austro-Hungarian Empire at the time, proposed the idea of taking the Austrian flag with the two red stripes and affixing the coat of arms of Lebanon in the center, in this cedar box. Adapting the action to the word, he paints it on a piece of paper. White refers to snow and mountain peace. The cedar, a symbol of majesty and solidity, is surrounded by two red bands representing the blood shed by the martyrs of independence. Since then, the flag chosen by the independent Lebanon will undergo only one change: the cedar trunk was brown, it turned green in 1995. In addition, Mr. Ourset points out that the flag of the emirate of Mount Lebanon was composed of a green cedar on White background. Under the French mandate (1920-1943), it took on the tricolor colors of France with cedar in the center of white.
Since 2021, Barbados has displayed a flag where the UK symbol is banned.
Pro-Russians and opponents
“A flag is never neutral. A flag is never silent ”, as Michel Pastoureau, medieval historian, specialist in the symbolism of colors, emblems and heraldry, says. Bill Clinton had not grasped the symbolism of the flag of the Romanian revolution, which the democratic militants had pierced in the center to erase the hated Communist coat of arms. One of these flags, a symbol of the December 1989 revolution that ended Nicolae Ceausescu’s dictatorship, was offered by Senate President Petre Roman to Bill Clinton during his visit to Bucharest in July 1997. In a letter, Clinton thanked Roman for the “poncho” offered, a word that surprised and amused Petre Roman who declared (quoted by all the Romanian newspapers):
“The American president must have thought that the flag with the holes was the coat worn by the gauchos! “
What does the red and white flag displayed by protesters in Minsk in 2020 represent? During the disputed re-election of President Lukashenko in 2020 for a sixth term in Belarus, we saw on the one hand thousands of opponents parading under the white-red-white colors, the flag that appeared in March 1918 after the proclamation of the People’s Party Republic of Belarus ( that the Soviet occupation and then the pro-Russian president Lukashenko made disappear). The people who showed their support for the regime, on the other hand, waved the red-green flag, inspired by the old Soviet emblems and established in 1995 by the president who had declared war on the nationalist past and the return to the Soviet legacy … but without a scythe. or hammer.
The oldest national flag in the world, that of Denmark, is named after Dannebrog. Bigstock Photographs illustration
Divorce with the UK
The British flag, nicknamed the Union Jack or Union Flag (Jack is the slang for Flag), actually represents the constitution of the kingdom. It combines the crosses of the various patron saints of the country: the cross of St. George for the English and that of St. Andrew for the Scots. After the union of 1801, this flag was enlarged by the St. Patrick’s cross to represent Ireland. “The cross of St. George is not English, explains Roger Ourset, it is that of the Republic of Genoa which had a white flag with a red cross. It had been brought back to their country by English sailors. ”
Barbados, a former colony of the British Empire, has long used a blue colored colonial flag with the Union Jack in the upper left corner. Having become a republic in 2021 and thus no longer recognizing Queen Elizabeth II as the head of state, its current flag now includes three vertical stripes, including two blue stripes symbolizing the sky and the sea, and a yellow stripe the sand. As for the black trident in the center, it symbolizes independence and the future. Likewise, the royal banner representing the British ruler has been replaced by a presidential banner.
The oldest national anthem in Europe … without words
Roger Ourset is also interested in the national anthems (songs and melodies) that accompany the flags. And which have become signs of belonging, a manifestation of identity, symbols of sovereignty and testimonies of the independence of a country. Among them, an oddity that goes back a long time: the Spanish national anthem has no lyrics. La Marcha Real, whose origins of the melody remain unknown, has been silent for 250 years. This hymn was written on paper by Manuel de Espinosa in 1761 in a collection entitled The Spanish Infantry Ringtone Book. It was officially adopted by King Charles III in 1770, making it the oldest national anthem in Europe. The Marcha Granadera is then played for official ceremonies in the name of the presence of the royal family. Gradually, the Spaniards adopted it and renamed it Marcha Real. Several attempts have been proposed to accompany him with words, particularly during the various Olympic Games. In 2008, the Spanish committee proposed to launch a competition for the adoption of an official text, but the idea was rejected. In February 2018, the singer Marta Sánchez proposes lyrics, neutral, but which raise many debates. Petitions are launched for the adoption of the text, in vain. This suggestion, which came shortly after the Catalan crisis, did not help the singer in her patriotic cause. To decipher the messages of images and texts that reflect the sovereign powers of nations, Roger Ourset invites the Lebanese to join the International Federation of Vexillology. An international congress is held every two years in a city in the world. This year it will take place in Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia, then in two years in China. In four years, Paris will be the host country.
Roger Ourset was the driving force behind the launch of the Clemenceau Business School (ESA), which he led from its inauguration in 1996 until 2008. After his two passions, business management and teaching, he discovered a real interest in flags and their symbolism and joined the French Federation of Vexillology. Go through…
